Ending the Debate on Ayesha’s Age

Intro

Much air and beans are being spilled regarding our Mother Ayesha’s age of marriage to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The intention of the haters of Islam is of course to bring down the reputation of the best person to ever have trod the earth: the Messenger and Beloved of Allah, Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). These attacks are fultile and boring, because not based on truth.

For those who are interested to hear the truth of the matter, which is from traditional Islam, we presnet here a few inspiring and informative videos of increasing length and some authorative texts for greater detail.

2a. A word of caution

When examining other cultures, especially those of many centuries ago, we should try and remove our social, automatic references. We should not superimpose our own mindset on other cultures. While we are all human beings and human nature does not change, the norms and customs of cultures do change, otherwise this approach (of looking at other cultures) will be unfruitful and eventually injust.

2b. Marriage, betrothal and consummation

So we have (1.) betrothal, the formal engagement to be married.
And we have (2.) consummation, making the marriage complete by having sexual intercourse. This should not be too difficult to understand, one would hope!

So in the case of Ayesha, she became (1.) engaged to be married at about 6 years, and she continued to be a child, playing in the street etc. Then when she got her period she was ready (2.) to marry and was taken into the house of the Prophet (the blessings and peace of Allah upon him). This was part of the culture and no-one complained. Also all over the world. Today it is different.

3. Videos

YT: Married At Nine – Aisha RA – Prophet Muhammad (5min)
(good simple graphics for main points.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIlm1JFyt8

YT: Who Is Aisha? | Lesley Hazleton (6min)
(Good! Except for her last sentence)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y30nzIR6S8

YT: Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Marriage To Aisha Explained – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (10min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8eeHRAIaIc

YT: Ending the Debate on Aisha (ra)’s Age – Sh. Omar Suleiman | Lecture (59min)
(25:25 – How normal was the engagement of Aisha to the Prophet ﷺ?)
(53:26 – Other opinions about her age)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gDTh-6X9vo

YT: Our Mother, Our Teacher (Aisha bint Abu-Bakr) – Women of Paradise – Sh. Omar Suleiman (14min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flgYPlycrVs

4. Texts on Living Islam – Islamic Tradition